Hybrid Split Top Workbench With A Dual Personality •

I’ve admired the workbenches other LJ’s have shared here. I especially like the split top benches as well as the one’s with a tray down the middle. I just couldn’t decide which one I would like better so I designed my workbench that could be configured either way.

Almost a gallon of Titebond III to laminate the tops and legs/rails/stretchers.

Finish:Danish Oil – Natural

Time to design and complete:About 4 months

The heaviest parts are the leg sets (2 legs glued to upper and lower rails) that weigh 70 lbs each. The next heaviest parts are the bench top halves that weigh 50 lbs each.

This is all the pieces that go into making the workbench:

Two legs and their rails are glued together as one unit. The upper rail is a double blind mortise and tenon draw bore joint. The lower rail is a double through mortise and tenon held with wedges glued to the outside of each tenon. Each leg set weighs about 70 pounds each and are the heaviest component.

The next heaviest parts are the bench top halves that weigh 50 pounds each.

The stretchers that hold the leg sets apart utilize a haunched through dovetail wedged joint. The stretchers are made out of 3 layers of laminated 3/4 inch plywood with hardwood reinforcement where any contact with the leg occurs. The stretchers are held in place with wedges only. The front stretcher also supports the dead-woman.

The shelf material is just plywood and sit on a cleat screwed to the stretcher.

All dog holes are 3/4” in diameter.

CONFIGURATION 1:

Two workbench tops with a 2” gap between them giving the bench a 26” overall width. The fillers in the gap in one position can be used to hold tools.

Or the fillers can be flipped over to serve as stops that project 3/4” over the bench top surface. All fillers are 18 inches long.

Do you like the “Dead-woman”?

CONFIGURATION 2:

With the ADDITION of 2 corbels that are held in place with a dovetail key and the REMOVAL of a block beneath the rear bench top, the REAR bench top can be moved 4 ” further away from the FRONT bench top making room for a 6” wide tool tray with ramps.

Here is a close-up of one of the two corbels that I made out of hickory.

This is what the corbel looks like installed ready for the rear top to be installed over it.

At the ends of the tool tray are the dog houses. Below shows the pegs for the dead-woman and dogs for the vise chops.

Below are the bench dogs that I made. The other pieces of wood in this dog house are 2 wedges that are used to remove the wedges that lock the front and rear stretchers that join the leg-sets.

The bottom runner of the dead-woman on the front stretcher makes it impossible to remove the wedges with a mallet so these wedges are used to remove the wedges.

METAL PARTS:

Aside from the vises and the ROCKLER workbench casters, the only other metal used in the bench are the small angle brackets that attach the leg sets to the bench top halves …

… and the straps that support either the fillers or the tray and also tie the front and rear workbench tops together. Here is the mid-bench strap used with the workbench configured with the 6 inch tray.

This is the strap at the end of the tray.

This workbench is so heavy, deploying and retracting the Rockler Workbench Casters is easier done with the use of a small bottle jack which fits under the lower leg-set rail.

I hope this detailed close up of my workbench was helpful in appreciating the design.

When you want your cake and eat it too, you figure out a way to do things like this. The way the bench tops fit over the legs and the way the tops are constructed, allows for this transformation. Unlike other 4 inch bench tops where a big mortise is carved into the bottom of the bench top, my bench tops allow for this flexibility.

Right now I have it set up with the tray in the middle. In a couple of months I’ll re-configure it with the fillers and see which configuration I like the best.

Building this workbench was really a lot of fun and a great learning experience. It really tests your patience. The hardest part was gluing the pieces for the bench top and building up the legs. Once that was done, the rest was a piece of cake. You can do it.

I must confess that I got lucky and was offered a bunch of 8/4 hickory that a friend of mine couldn’t use cause it was so twisted and split. However, with a little patience, I found the pieces I needed to make the 5” X 5” legs and rails.

I love it. A lot of good thought went into that bench and you’ll use it forever.

But most of all ” You appreciate it more if you make it yourself” and this one is you very own design!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I had the room for a nice bench like that!!. Maybe in my next life!!........................Jim

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!! Variety is the Spice of Life!!